by Paris Singer
“What of the young male? I want no excuses—I want him found, too, more than the female.” Perusak spoke into a glowing green orb that hovered at eye level in front of him. “Perusak will take your head if you fail, yes? Remember, he must live.”
“Is he talking about me?” I whispered. Alana placed her hand over my mouth, and her index finger to her lips, and mouthed, “Let’s go.”
As before, we sneaked from the crane, to the drums. We were close to the ship. Metallic purple and gold with silver trim, the garish vehicle seemed built for speed and show. I guessed it belonged to a councilman. Footmen stood nearby, too close for us to get to it.
“I am leaving. Perusak expects good news from you, yes?” The green orb vanished. “Come,” said Persuak to the cloaked figure. They both turned and made their way to the ramp that led up to the sleek ship. As they walked, the cloaked figure took off their hood, and lowered the cloth from their face.
“Looks like most the Morex footmen are leaving, too,” whispered Alana, craning her neck round the drum. Perusak reached the entrance to his ship and walked out of sight. Just before doing the same, the cloaked figure stopped and stood motionless for a moment. It was as if they had heard or sensed our presence. I moved closer to the drum, my gaze fixed on the figure. They turned. Not all the way, but enough for me to see their face, before turning back, and following Perusak into the ship, out of sight.
I turned and slumped on the ground. My heart raced, my mind spun. I could not believe what I’d just seen—who I’d seen. I searched for logical explanations, but there were none. It was impossible. I’d seen him die. One. My brother was alive.
***
“Seven.” Alana’s voice suddenly broke through the trance I must have been in. “The Morex are leaving. All we need to do is make sure the few that remain don’t see us while we take the ship. Come on.”
“It can’t be,” I breathed. “He’s alive. He’s alive.”
“Snap out of it—what are you doing?”
I shook my head, trying to get One’s face out of my mind and back into the task at hand. But it was burned in. The Morex footmen moved together toward the elevator doors, allowing us an easy path to the ship. Alana broke open a small panel on the underside, causing a clear cylindrical elevator to descend from the center. No sooner did we step onto it than it took us up into the vehicle.
Alana made her way to the cockpit of the ornate ship. “Seven. I need you up front with me. Why are you sitting there?”
Unable to shake One’s face from my mind, I had absentmindedly sat on one of the plush purple sofas. I stood up, and hurried to the seat next to Alana, and strapped myself in, as she pressed a multitude of buttons above and in front of her.
“Great. This thing doesn’t have weapons. Not going to lie to you, Seven. It won’t be an easy ride once we get out there. I’ve had training, but have never had to maneuver through an entire fleet of hostiles. It’s times like these that make you glad there’s a universal standard ship control layout. You may want to hold on.”
With one final push of a switch, the ship lifted off the ground.
“I’ll try to get us out without them even knowing we were here,” she said of the footmen, who stood on guard facing the elevator doors.
Slowly, the ship turned ninety degrees on its axis toward the large rectangular hangar door that was still open.
“We’re off,” said Alana, pushing down a lever in front of her. The ship shot forward at an incredible speed, almost instantly leaving the hangar behind, as it streamed through the lighted tunnel. Mere seconds later, we emerged on the other side, from a cliff, over a deep precipice. We were no longer in the city, but in a lush landscape to the east. Alana pulled down on the controls in her hands, and the ship climbed the blue skies.
“Get ready,” she said, “we’ll need all the luck we can get to make it through.”
CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT
Moments later we reached the stratosphere. Half a dozen gargantuan attack ships were stationed around a central one that dwarfed them all. Blue crystalline lights illuminated parts of the black leviathan.
“I’ll try to fly straight up past them. They could detect us at any moment, Seven. I’ll need to keep it slow: if we’re lucky, the radars will pick us up as being debris. Their attentions should be focused on what’s happening on Simia so, even if we’re detected, they might not find us important enough to engage with. We should keep quiet until we’re far enough away from them, though; just in case.”
We drifted at minimum speed in silence. From the cockpit I watched waves of smaller attack ships leaving the larger ones on their way to Simia, wondering if any of them had been sent out to destroy us. We drifted until the Morex ships were out of sight.
“We should be far enough,” said Alana, while pushing a series of dials. The ship blasted forward at great speed. We were safe.
“I’m sorry I took you there, Seven. I thought your home planet would be the best place for you to start your life over. If I’d known the Morex would find a way to defeat Simian strategies, I would have thought of somewhere else to take you. I figured they’d leave once they realized their efforts were futile. If I’d known this would happen… But we managed to escape unharmed, which is the main thing. This time we’ll find somewhere to settle down—somewhere safe—where you can grow up and lay down roots of your own. Somewhere Sphere isn’t illegal, either. That was the dumbest law I’ve ever—”
“We have to go back.”
Alana looked at me as though she wasn’t certain if she’d heard me right. “Go back? What? Why? Why would we go back there? There’s no way—”
“One. I saw him. He’s alive.”
Alana furrowed her brow. “That’s not possible, Seven. The Morex killed—”
“Did they? Did we see him die? Because what I remember is seeing him get pulled back into the darkness, and we just assumed he did.”
Alana gazed at me for a moment. “Where do you think you saw him?”
“In the hangar, on Perusak’s ship. He took off his hood as he stepped onto it.”
“Are you sure it was him, Seven?”
“As sure as I know my own face.”
Alana remained silent and turned to face ahead.
“So, let’s go. Turn the ship around, Alana. We have to go find him.”
“We can’t.”
“Of course we’re going back. Didn’t you hear me? He’s alive.”
“No, Seven. If it’s as you say, and it was him, Perusak’s successful infiltration into Simia makes a lot more sense.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You said it yourself: he was the cloaked figure in the meeting who spoke with Perusak.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Did it look like he was in distress? Like they were holding him there against his will? Did it seem like he wanted to be rescued?”
“No, well, there could be a reason. He might be playing along so that the Morex wouldn’t attack us all.”
“Seven. If One was there with the Morex—with Perusak—it’s because he wanted to be.”
“What? No, I don’t believe it. There’s a reason for it, I’m sure.”
“Not only that, but…”
“But what?”
Alana hesitated.
“No, come on, say what you have to say.”
“He came in late, didn’t he? You don’t really think he stayed behind in the ship because he’d overslept, do you? Seven, both you and One were always excellent strategists. Don’t you think it a little weird that the Morex suddenly got more aggressive in their attacks? More successful?”
“I don’t like where you’re going with this.”
“He helped them. He used his advanced knowledge of strategy and told them how to break through Simian defenses. Can’t you see that?”
“One is my brother. My brother. He would never do that. Never.”
“Just like he didn’t try to poison you during the tournament against th
e Malacs? Just so he could be the one to compete in the final?”
“How d’you know about that? Oh, right. I forgot. You were watching like a creep.”
“Seven… I’m not saying this to upset you. But you have to consider the facts—the logic.”
“There’s no logic here. You just don’t want to go back because you’re scared.”
“Scared? Don’t be so childish. Wake up. If you saw your brother on Perusak’s ship it’s because Perusak allowed it. The Morex don’t take prisoners unless they have a use for them—I should know. If One is alive, it’s because he’s useful to Perusak: his greatest skill is strategy, like you. It is not a coincidence the Morex could suddenly break through such advanced defenses like those of the Simians without help. One helped them do it.”
“I don’t care. I don’t care if he did. I don’t care about the Morex, or the Simians, or their pointless war. My brother is alive, and I’m going back to find him—with or without you.”
“I can’t let you do that, Seven.”
“Let me? You can’t tell me what to do. If I say I’m going back, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Alana gazed ahead for a moment and sighed a deep breath. “I made a promise a long time ago. To your mother.”
“My mother?”
“Despite the circumstances, aboard the Morex ship where they captured her, we became friends. I stayed with her through the rest of her pregnancy. I didn’t want her to be alone. Shortly before she was due, she made me promise that I would look after you, and One, and keep you safe. If I let you go back, I would be breaking the promise I made. You understand, don’t you?”
“What I understand is that you’ve already broken your promise. I may be safe, but what about One? Is he?”
“Not completely, but—”
“But what?”
“He’s made his decision, Seven. One’s with the Morex.”
“He doesn’t know what he wants. They captured him, remember? Don’t you think he’s scared? He’s probably just going along with them, trying to keep himself from getting killed.”
Alana seemed to deliberate. “Maybe.”
“There’s no maybe. You said you made a promise to my mother, right? Do you want to keep your word, or have you changed your mind?”
“I would never do that.”
“No? Then we’re going back for One.”
Alana gazed through me as if considering what I’d said, then focused back on me again. “We‘ll need help.”
CHAPTER FORTY NINE
Alana turned the ship ninety degrees and blasted off at full speed.
“This isn’t the way back to Simia,” I said. “Where are we going?”
“Going back now would be suicide, Seven. If we have any chance of even getting to One, we have to go prepared.”
“So, where are we going?”
“There’s a friend who has information I need. We need to find him first.”
“Okay. Where is he? Which planet?”
“I don’t know.”
“What? What do you mean you don’t know? How we going to find him, then?”
“Calm down. He rarely stays in one place very long. But there are people we can ask who probably know where he is right now. We’re on our way to speak to some of them now. Without them, I doubt we’ll ever find him.”
“Oh, man, you’ve got to be kidding me,” I said, running my fingers through my hair in frustration.
“Look. You want to go back to Simia to face the Morex fleet so you can rescue One—fine. I’m on board. But there’s no way we can ever hope to do that without outside help, understand? Use your head, Seven. You’re a strategist, remember? Think like one.”
She was right. I felt so frustrated that we couldn’t just go back to get One that I wasn’t thinking. I was being a brat. But I sure wasn’t going to admit it.
“Okay, relax,” I said, trying to, both, save face and irritate her in the process—something I successfully accomplished, judging by the stare she gave me. “If you think finding this friend is what we need to do, then let’s do it.”
“I’m so glad you approve.”
We passed two systems before we came to another, smaller one, which comprised only four planets.
“This is a good place to start: Kattar.”
The planet Katter was a swampy planet with a greenish-yellow mist that blanketed its endless bogs and marshes. We flew till we came across a town built above a bubbling bog. Steel columns jutted out from the thick liquid which supported the many cylindrical homes and its inhabitants. Walkways made of twisting vines and roots interconnected the town. Alana landed the ship on a flat, round docking station, where a couple rusted, old-looking ships were parked.
“We’re here. I won’t be long.”
“What, do you mean I have to stay in here?” I said, indignant.
“Like I said, I won’t be long. There’s no point you coming—”
“I’m coming. I’ve been cooped up in this ship forever. Need to stretch my legs.”
Alana rolled here eyes. “Oh, fine. You can come—but don’t interfere, okay? Kattarians aren’t necessarily… friendly to strangers. So don’t talk to anyone. Most don’t like direct eye contact, so don’t look at them, either. Oh and don’t touch anything. Better if you just stand there, and don’t move, okay?”
“Okay, okay. Can I at least breathe?”
Alana watched me a moment, as if deliberating whether I could, then said, “Don’t be stupid, of course you can.” She got up, turned to leave, then stopped and turned back. “But not too loud.”
A wall of stench is the first thing that greeted me when I stepped off the ship. I regretted my decision to go along with Alana, but I didn’t turn back—I wasn’t about to change my mind after the fuss I’d made. We walked across a wide walkway made of thick, dry vines, and came to a main street along which were a series of markets, eateries and bars. Alana walked up to the first bar, and said, “Stay here. You’re too young to go in. Remember what I told you okay?”
“Sure.”
“Okay?”
“I said, ‘sure’.”
“Okay. Won’t be long.” Alana walked in, and the oval door closed behind her.
Man, this place stinks, I thought, looking around at the passers-by. Kattarians had slimy semi-translucent green skins with black-brown spots all over. No hair anywhere. Their bulging yellow eyes on either side of their round heads seemed expressionless, almost vacant. Round, full orange lips were below two vertical slits in the center of their heads. A mother walked passed me with a toddler hanging from her thick shoulders. As slimy as the adults were, the toddler was cute. While the mother ignored my presence, her offspring locked eyes with me, and watched my every move with its big round eyes, its lips forming an ‘o’ as if astounded by what it was seeing. Playfully, I stuck my tongue out at it and I winked. Maybe Alana had been right because, no sooner had I done so, than it let out an ear-piercing cry, and thick translucent tears fell from its closed eyes.
Every Kattarian stopped and gazed at me. They communicated with each other with a series of ‘b’ sounds. As they closed in on where I stood, Alana burst out of the bar. Seemingly unaware of the crowd that had gathered around me, she said, “Let’s go,” and she pushed past the angry Kattarians, whose voices had become graver and faster. I turned back as we walked across the walkway to see them following us. The crowd, it seemed, had now tripled in size.
We got in ship and lift off moments before they reached us. I sighed with relief. “How’d it go? Did you find out where your friend is?”
“I did. At least, I hope I did. Didn’t I ask you not to communicate with them?”
“Um, I didn’t.”
“I speak Kattarian, Seven. You can’t lie to me.”
“Oh.”
“Ugly hairy creature hurt Momo,” they said. “Throw ugly hairy creature in bog. Let Drada eat it. Revenge for Momo.”
“Wow, they really said all that?”
“They did. If I hadn’t come out when I had, you’d probably be getting chomped up by a disgusting two-headed leech four times your size by now.”
I gulped. “Thanks for coming out,” I said.
“It was pure chance. I’d gotten the information I needed and stepped out to hear what I told you. You were lucky, Seven.”
“Well… Thanks, anyway.”
“No problem. Please listen to me next time.”
“Where are we going now?”
“If my source was right, he should be on one of the desert planets in the neighboring system. Let’s hope we catch him in time before he decides to leave again.”
As we left the thick, humid atmosphere, I felt relieved I would never have to smell Kattar’s horrible bogs and marshes again, and impatient to find Alana’s friend, who would help us go back to Simia, and to One.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Sabaku was three times the circumference of Simia and was almost entirely covered in yellow sand. For kilometers on end we flew across the barren landscape of crags and oscillating dunes.
“How are we ever supposed to find him in a place like this?” I asked.
Alana smiled. “It won’t be as difficult as you think.”
Moments later, three smaller ships whizzed past us at amazing speeds.
“Looks like we’re going the right way. We can’t be far now.”
Soon, I saw dark shapes moving from every direction, all of which sped to a single point somewhere on the sand below.
“Found him.”
As we got closer, I saw that the moving shapes were ships heading to what looked like a small oasis. Ogris trees surrounded a pool of blue water, whose long, rounded violet leaves provided disappointingly little shade from the scorching sun above. Around the oasis was a myriad of parked ships. As yet more ships landed, their occupants made their way to a rectangular off-silver shack beside the pool of water.
